Elliot Jay Stocks is a designer, speaker, and author. He was previously the Creative Director of Adobe Typekit, and is now the co-founder of lifestyle magazine Lagom, the founder of typography magazine (and soon-to-be book) 8 Faces, and an electronic musician recording as Other Form.

Goals, old and new

On the first day of this year, I wrote a post about my goals for 2008. As the year now draws to a close (where did it go?!?), I thought now would be a good time to reflect on some of those goals and make some more for 2009.

Goals I achieved

“Write a book, or a chapter in a book” – I’m putting the finishing touches to my first book over the next few days and it’ll be published by SitePoint in March. Expect to see details soon!

“Speak at least 4 events” – I certainly did! And in 2009 I’ll be speaking at even more.

“Work out” – Thanks in part to me spending two months in Norway over the summer, I’ve managed to get into shape this year… although I expect Christmas food will put paid to that!

Goals I didn’t achieve

“Release a new version of this site” – I think it’s fine that I didn’t achieve this, since I still made some significant updates and I don’t feel that the new design I’m working on is quite there just yet.

“Unveil my top secret, super-sexy, uber-cool new project” – This was temporarily shelved because of commitments to the SitePoint book, but it will be making an appearance in 2009!

“Release another album (or at least an EP)” – As you’ve no doubt read, this will be happening early next year as well.

It’s interesting looking back on those goals, because they don’t include my decision to go freelance, which was probably the biggest decision I’ve ever made, and also what I would consider to be one of my main achievements this year. It gave me the freedom to live life the way I wanted to (like being able to live abroad for two months), it allowed me to take on the kind of projects like those described above, and I’ve honestly never been happier in terms of working life.

Goals for 2009

“Achieve the three failed goals above” – Obviously!

“Speak at at least 8 events” – I already have 8 planned (I’ll announce the rest soon) and one or two more on the cards, so achieving this shouldn’t be a problem.

“Fit in more travelling” – This will be helped hugely by the speaking events!

“Buy a house” – Having temporarily decamped to Shropshire since we returned from travelling, my girlfriend and I are planning to get our own place again as early in the new year as possible. In all likelihood we’ll be heading down to Oxfordshire, getting a decent place to rent, and then – if we’re happy there and finances are ok – we’ll be aiming to buy our first house towards the end of the year. Again, fingers crossed!

And you?

The original post got some great responses, with a lot of people sharing their own goals, so I hope this one generates the same! As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Oh, and before I go (as this will probably be my last post until January), I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Thanks so much for all of your support, encouragement, and participation in 2008. It means a lot to me! :)